"They died with their boots on."

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Boot Hill Cemetery is located in downtown Tilden, Texas. Tilden was founded in 1858, and was first known as Frio Rio, and then in the early 1860s began to be known as “Dog Town”. The story goes that one night, drunk cowboys shot up the town and by the end, around 15 dead dogs were left in the street. In 1879 the name was changed to the much more pleasant-sounding moniker, Tilden.

The cemetery is named “Boot Hill” for the number of violent and unusual deaths of its occupants. Even from the beginning, the cemetery started off with its very first customer being a suicide casualty. A number of the others were killed by accident or were assassinated; one man was fatally thrown from his horse, while one was a confederate veteran who died of cholera in 1869. One man buried at Boot Hill was a murderer presumed to be a member of the infamous Dalton Gang. The cemetery was used from around 1858 to 1877.

A historical marker was erected by the Texas Historical Commission to commemorate the site in 1964. Many of the graves are unmarked, while some are marked by large stone slabs. The grave of Glenn Greer, the man thrown from his horse in 1874, has a marble slab and metal fence marking his grave.

Know Before You Go

It is located on route 72, one block East of intersection of 72 and Highway 16.

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